DARQ: Ta-dah! It’s Saint Patrick’s Day and I am wearing my new Erte-inspired dress thanks to Catherine’s ingenuity. She even made me the headpiece, a fascinater.
What I absolutely love about this summer dress is the neckline–those gathers are made by the material pinched between the beads. No elastic, no pulled-string type of gathering, no facing either. That’s because the bodice is one piece from the waist up, then the ‘collar’ falls back over the bust line.
Are you wondering what Erte design inspired this? It was—
Erte Dress Illustration, circa 1920’s
I’m still not sure what a blarney stone is, and I do think Catherine put way too many stones on the stage. But, hey, I’m only the model, not the photographer! LOL
I also think Catherine overdid the confetti . . . I’m really beginning hate confetti . . .
(Darq sighs). Pity about the shoes–Catherine spent a lot of frustrating time and trial-and-error on this dress, so much so that she plunked down last year’s St. Pat’s shoes and said, “Wear ’em or go barefoot.” And, you know me–I LOVE SHOES WITH BLING!
All kidding aside, what stymies me is that Catherine had little trouble with the New Year’s Erte outfit’s design (scroll down for a look). Yet, Catherine found this dress and said the design looked simple, easy. She’d have it done in no time at all. Well, that certainly didn’t happen. Go figure.
So, while I’m tripping through the confetti, I wish one and all a —
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY !
Oh– If you like my dress, let Catherine and me know, and do plan to stop by for the reveal of my Easter Outfit. Erte inspired, of course (I talked Catherine into another one!)
Regarding ERTE: If this is your first visit to my blog, Erte is the Father of Art Deco. He designed fashions for stage and theater as well as people. Stop by Catherine’s Pinterest board for a look at other Erte fashions/designs.
A NOTE FROM CATHERINE TO SEWERS: The dress fabric is cotton gauze. The dress has a balloon hem. Unfortunately the fabric didn’t drape as expected so the balloon effect is muted. As Darq said, it was not as simple to sew as originally thought. Those rows of trim had to be parallel to each other, which wasn’t easy to do. Also, I went to four different fabric outlets trying to find emerald-green ribbon. Didn’t find any–obviously, it was not an in color despite the approach of St. Pat’s Day. So, at the last store, I settled for the last two rolls of green velvet ribbon on their shelves, then used a brocade ribbon I already had on hand for the third row. The “belt” is hand crocheted and embellished with shamrocks (as is the dress). The headdress was an afterthought to go with the outfit’s 1920’s styling. Doesn’t Darq look marvelous wearing that fascinator?
Catherine’s website is: http://www.CatherineEmclean.com
Catherine’s website for writers is: http://www.WritersCheatSheets.com
* * *